Some questions on a Heineken clone

[nikkuchan]

This is my wife's favorite beer, and it's been growing on me as well (going to the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam gave me a new appreciation for it). My first LHBS in Honolulu has a list of good-looking recipes (http://www.homebrewinparadise.com/BrewRecipes.aspx), including a Heineken one (http://www.homebrewinparadise.com/BrewRecipes/Heineken Ale.pdf), so I decided to give that a try, but I had a few questions first:

The recipe calls for 7 lbs of Pale LME. Of the two shops I frequent, I only saw the pricey Alexander's Pale LME. I heard light extract is essentially the same thing, so I was thinking of using about 6 lbs of light DME instead. Is there a big difference here? Also, there's many types of this: Fermenters Favorite Golden and Pilsen, Muntons Light and Extra light. Which one do you think would be best?

The recipe I'm looking at is an ale, where Heineken is a lager. Now, I won't use Muntons like the recipe suggests, but I'm wondering what yeast I should use? Would an ale yeast like US-05 give me good flavor, or would a lager yeast be better?

Last question: The recipe calls for 1 oz of Hallertau at 30 minutes, then another 1/4 oz at 10 minutes. This means I'd have to buy 2 packs of hallertau and end up with 3/4 oz when I'm done, which puts me at a loss as to how to use it. I'd like to avoid this. Any suggestions on substitutions or alternative methods?

Sorry for all the questions. I just want to make a tasty clone to impress my wife. Thanks.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I would absolutely go with the lightest DME you can find for this (one that's Pilsner malt based would be ideal), and go with a European crystal malt instead of a US Crystal 10. Weyermann Carahell would be a good bet. Absolutely use a lager yeast if you have the equipment and knowhow to ferment it properly, failing that I would go with either a California Common yeast (Wyeast 2112 California Lager), Alt yeast (Wyeast 1007 German Ale) or Kolsch yeast (Wyeast 2565 Kolsch), or their White Labs equivalents, and ferment it in the very low 60s or even high 50s if you can. As far as hops, if you've got software punch it in losing the first Northern Brewer addition, and losing the 30 minute Hallertau addition, and use whatever you need to reach your IBUs with just Hallertau at 60 or 90.

Since you're going for Heineken, make sure to bottle it in green bottles and allow a little sunlight exposure

Good luck.

 

[nikkuchan]

I would absolutely go with the lightest DME you can find for this (one that's Pilsner malt based would be ideal), and go with a European crystal malt instead of a US Crystal 10. Weyermann Carahell would be a good bet.

I don't know the difference between these grains, but I think I'll try it your way. I think I'll go with the Breiss Pilsen DME, unless someone can convince me to use Muntons Extra light.

Absolutely use a lager yeast if you have the equipment and knowhow to ferment it properly, failing that I would go with either a California Common yeast (Wyeast 2112 California Lager), Alt yeast (Wyeast 1007 German Ale) or Kolsch yeast (Wyeast 2565 Kolsch), or their White Labs equivalents, and ferment it in the very low 60s or even high 50s if you can.

I'm still not ready to do liquid. Any suggestions for dry yeast?

Since you're going for Heineken, make sure to bottle it in green bottles and allow a little sunlight exposure

Good luck.

I got my Grolsch bottles ready to go.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Well, there's SafLager S-23, but if you can't consistently hold fermentation extremely steady around 55 degrees (beer temp, not air temp), and then do a controlled d-rest and lager it, lager yeast may be your worst option. If you're not ready to work with liquid yeast, I doubt you're ready to properly ferment a lager either. So ale yeast it is. I'm not a fan of US-05. I would probably go with Nottingham and ferment it as cold as you can reasonable keep it steady. But ultimately without a proper lager yeast fermented extremely well, getting something that resembles Heineken is going to be a challenge. If you're willing to let it get skunky like bottled Heineken (I wasn't being serious about that by the way) that may actually mask some of the other off-flavors from using an ale yeast though. But if your wife is expecting proper non-light damaged Heineken this is going to be extremly difficult for you to pull off.

 

[nikkuchan]

I have a storage unit where the ambient temp stays between 50-60 (sometimes lower) this time of year, so I was going to take this opportunity to try my first lager. I have not use a liquid yeast, but I can definitely try (It doesn't seem too difficult, I'm just intimidated). I guess it's time to read up on using liquid yeast.

 

[Yooper]

I have a storage unit where the ambient temp stays between 50-60 (sometimes lower) this time of year, so I was going to take this opportunity to try my first lager. I have not use a liquid yeast, but I can definitely try (It doesn't seem too difficult, I'm just intimidated). I guess it's time to read up on using liquid yeast.

The key to using liquid yeast is to use the proper amount. That's true with dry yeast, too, of course but you tend to get more yeast cells in a package of dry yeast so it's not that common to need more yeast.

Either buy enough packages to ferment properly (as many as 4-6, depending on the OG!), or simply buy one and make a starter.

To make a starter, use 1/2 cup DME to every 2 cups of water and boil that together, cool, and put in a sanitized container and then add your yeast. Cover with sanitized foil, and shake it every time you walk by.

For a lager, you may need a 4 liter starter so you will want to ferment it out, then put it in the fridge so you can pour off the spent wort. You don't want a whole gallon of icky starter wort in you nice "clean" lager.

To see how many yeast cells you need, a yeast pitching calculator is really helpful. Mrmalty.com has a nice one.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I find making a starter with liquid yeast less of a PITA than properly rehydrating dry yeast anyway. Like @Yooper said, the only difference is that you get less cells per package with liquid yeast and liquid yeast degrades faster, so you usually need to make a starter. If you don't mind spending a little more, just buy multiple packages of yeast based on what the Mr. Malty calculator tells you, and you're good to go without needing to make a starter. Just make sure you're paying attention to the yeast date when you do the calculations on Mr. Malty. If I don't have the yeast on hand, I set it as a month old, because that's usually what I get from my LHBS. If the yeast is really old, you're going to need even more yeast.